Reducing Maternal Morbidity in Connecticut: A Q&A With Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD YSM spoke with Marcella Nunez-Smith about a new Connecticut Health Foundation initiative to promote maternal health equity in Connecticut.

CT ranks 35th for severe maternal morbidity.
Black women face twice the risk.

This is a public health failure we can fix.
Marcella Nunez-Smith on data, accountability, and collective action.
Read the interview: medicine.yale.edu/news-article...

Congrats to Mark Abraham, DataHaven (@datahaven.bsky.social) Executive Director, who won the Elm Award as part of the 2026 Annual Seton Elm-Ivy Awards Ceremony on April 8th, 2026!

Please welcome our next ERIC spotlight, our Postgraduate Associate Cassandra Michel, MPH. Swipe to learn more!

Our next ERIC spotlight series features Vivien Wambugu, MSc, ERIC's Research Associate II. We are so proud of Vivien! Learn more about her and what makes her such a critical part of the ERIC community.

Congratulations to ERIC Core Faculty Kristina Talbert-Slagle, Ph.D. on being appointed Co-Chair of the Connecticut Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health 🎉

wp.cga.ct.gov/creph/person...

Meet our third ERIC featured member, Imran Saeed, PharmD, MPH for our ERIC Spotlight Series! We are so grateful to have Imran in our community. Read on to learn more about him and his work!

Meet our second featured ERIC member, Lisbette Acosta, BS, Postgraduate Associate and ERIC Social Media Coordinator! Learn more about her and her work here at ERIC.

Welcome to the first of our ERIC spotlight series, with Corrine Liu, MPH, to start us off! Learn more about Corrine and what makes her such a special part of the ERIC community.

New ERIC study finds that most patients are willing to share race/ethnicity/language data, but lower willingness still exists in key populations: people with less trust in providers, poorer health, and certain racial/ethnic groups.

Equity needs data, and data needs trust www.i-jmr.org/2025/1/e67288

How can using Western and Indigenous knowledge shape better research? 🌱

In their new paper, Wali et al. and ERIC Faculty Dr. Jeremy Schwartz share how learning Indigenous methods helped researchers adapt a digital health program for remote Ugandan communities.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41100180/

Physical Accessibility of Medicines in Countries Hosting Trials for FDA Approvals This cross-sectional study aims to determine whether and when medicines receive market authorization in the countries where they are tested for US Food and Drug Administration approval, as well as…

Of the 172 medicines approved by the FDA from 2015-18, only 24% of countries had physical access to every drug they helped test, even after 5 years, with lowest access in African countries.

New research from ERIC Affiliate Faculty Jen Miller, PhD and team lays it out clearly:
tinyurl.com/ycxehhy4

The world is facing a cancer crisis that’s hitting the most vulnerable hardest Cancer is a universal challenge that hits those with the fewest resources hardest – and nearly half of global cancer deaths are linked to preventable risks.

In 2023, cancer caused nearly 1 in 6 deaths worldwide, with over 2/3 of those deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries, where access to screening and treatment remains limited.

Here’s why this growing crisis demands our attention, and why the next 25 years is critical. bit.ly/48FoKGa

CDC Committee Delays Hepatitis B Vaccine For Newborns In Critical Guidelines Shift - Health Policy Watch A United States vaccine advisory panel, recently reformed to include known vaccine skeptics, voted to eliminate a three-decade-long recommendation that all

💉Critics say the revised panel—now including several vaccine skeptics—ignored strong scientific evidence on Hep B.

⚠️As US childhood immunisation stability wavers, clinicians warn: this vote could put millions of infants at risk.

@ameracadpeds.bsky.social @acpimphysicians.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🙏🔁

Infographic highlights loss of hospital-based obstetric services in rural counties nationwide | AHA News An infographic released by the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center highlights the decline of maternity care access in rural counties across the U.S. from 2010-2022, finding that nearl...

Did you know that over half of rural counties lack hospital-based obstetric services?

Source: American Hospital Association www.aha.org/news/headlin...

Over Half The World’s Population Lacked Access To Basic Health Services In 2023 - Health Policy Watch Some 4.6 billion people, or more than half the world’s population, still lacked access to a basic package of essential health services in 2023, a new World

Over half the world still lives without essential health services — 4.6 billion people in 2023. New @who.int - World Bank
Data warns the world is far off track for UHC by 2030, as financial hardship & stalled public spending widen inequities.

@gatesfoundation.bsky.social @gavi.org
📖⬇️ & 🙏🔁

Collaboration Across Africa Is Key To Increasing Clinical Trials - Health Policy Watch In Kenya, toxicologists and epidemiologists face a difficult choice: to pursue better-paid work to support their families, or volunteer as reviewers for

🌍 #Africa bears 25% of the disease burden but hosts only 4% of clinical trials.

💡 “Africa is critical for advancing science and for ensuring medicines work for everyone.” Unlocking this potential means investment, collaboration, and stronger systems. #IFPMA

@h3dfoundation.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🙏🔁

New Study Finds Implementation Barriers to States’ Plans of Safe Care for Infants with Prenatal Substance Exposure A recent study from researchers at Rollins shows that policies designed to support infants exposed to substances before birth remain difficult to access and implement.

Almost every U.S. state has a policy to support infants exposed to substances before their birth, but many are unclear, hard to access, or lack clear standards.

The result? Challenges for families affected by prenatal substance exposure.

NEW STUDY by SPH researchers: #Incarceration, #Arrests Casts Long Shadow Over Health

Going to prison or even just getting arrested negatively affects a person’s health long after the experience, worsening age-related health problems such as chronic pain, sleep quality and memory.

brnw.ch/21wYbxV

Addressing Inequities in Postpartum Readmissions About 1% to 2% of birthing people experience a postpartum hospital readmission in the US.1 In some situations, postpartum readmissions may not be entirely preventable, such as when patients experience...

New editorial out at JAMA Network Open:

Richmond, Planey, & Kong (2025) Addressing Inequities in Postpartum Readmissions jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Insights into the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis: An International Comparison U.S. policymakers and delivery system leaders could learn from international models of maternity care, including for postpartum support and workforce composition.

Did you know that the U.S. has the second-lowest number of midwives and ob-gyns per 1,000 births compared to other high-income countries?

Source: Commonwealth Fund www.commonwealthfund.org/publications...

The State of Rural Primary Care in the United States Rural Americans face significant barriers to accessing adequate primary care; tailored federal and state programs can help address some of these challenges.

New analysis on rural primary care finds:

🏥 Demand for rural primary care physicians is projected to exceed supply by 2037
🚑 Nearly 1 in 4 rural adults used the ER for needs that could be treated in primary care
💻 Only 19% received primary care via telehealth, compared to 29% nationally

Details ⤵️

Virtual Workshop: Using Data to Inform Strategic Priorities in Your Community To expand opportunity and well-being for residents, local leaders need the right data and the skills to put the data into action. This session will help participants identify the most relevant data so...

There’s still time to register!

Join Urban on 12/10 @ 1:00 p.m. ET for a virtual workshop on using #data to set strategic priorities for upward mobility in your #community, using guidance from the Toolkit for Increasing Upward Mobility.

Reserve your spot. #LiveatUrban

Blue and purple gradient image containing a quote overlay by Raja-Elie Abdulnour, M.D., a pulmonary and critical care physician and editor-in-chief of NEJM Clinician: "NEJM Clinician is like havingtrusted colleagues who share their expert opinions from the frontlines of patient care--who show you the clinicial pearls, explain why the matter, and how to apply them in practice."

Rolling out soon: NEJM Clinician

NEJM Clinician keeps you informed and prepared through expertly curated and contextualized summaries of the most impactful and practice-changing advances in internal medicine.

Learn more: nej.md/48djv0c

WIC participants who redeem fewer fruits, veggies, milk, eggs and formula are more likely to leave the program early, this study finds. Understanding redemption patterns can help improve retention and maximize WIC’s positive impact on child nutrition. ja.ma/4rpeev4

Data Show Increased Cancer-Related Mortality in Incarcerated Population | CancerNetwork A collaboration between the Connecticut Departments of Health and Corrections and the COPPER Center aimed to improve outcomes among incarcerated patients.

@solomonctryls.bsky.social faculty affiliate and @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social Prof. @carygross.bsky.social spoke to Cancer Network about his new research on health outcomes among incarcerated cancer patients and how to improve their quality of care. www.cancernetwork.com/view/data-sh...

Families with low redemption of WIC benefits were more likely to leave the program, highlighting the need to reduce administrative burdens and improve access. ja.ma/4opIqDV

"We, as a country, can improve health care affordability,” Professor @rozmurray.bsky.social says.
Oregon was the first US state to limit how much hospitals can charge. Hit the link to learn how much $$$ caps saved (without impacting quality).
sph.brown.edu/news/2025-12-02/hospital...

Study Finds Telemedicine Dramatically Improves Coverage of HIV Prevention Medication A new study led by researchers at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health estimates that nearly 20% of U.S. residents who use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention received the...

Learn more about telePrEP and our HIV research on our News Center.

How South Africa Got Chronic Medicine To Millions Of Patients And Why It's Now At Risk - Health Policy Watch Over 3.7 million South Africans on monthly chronic medication can now get their medicine faster and closer to home, thanks to a vast network involving

💊 #SouthAfrica Dablapmeds programme cut clinic queues, reduced default rates, and reached 3.7M patients with #HIV and #NCDs — at less than $5 per person per year.

🌎But shrinking global health aid threatens the model’s sustainability

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
#globalfund #pepfar
📖⬇️ & 🙏🔁

Working Together to Reduce Black Maternal Mortality Learn about working together to reduce Black maternal mortality.

Did you know that American Indigenous and Black people are over three times as likely as White people to die from pregnancy-related causes?

Source: CDC www.cdc.gov/womens-healt...